I just spent the past three days with Phillip Davis of Pure Tungsten talking about branding and marketing issues. I find it interesting that marketing and branding is less about the media channels that you use and more about who you are (as an individual, as an organization).

He talked about the pivot point. The pivot point is not about your product or service, but the essence of what your customer wants from you. If you can discover that essence, you can pivot around that point to provide more effective and different products and services.

What is your pivot point?

And I thought about what our pivot point is. It’s not the blog. It’s not our websites, our Working Leadership program. It is the internal conversations that we all have (with ourselves) about what it means to be a manager.

And when we remember the things that are important, it is never about a special day, but only the slices of moments when we are especially lucid. I think that is our pivot point. The moment of those internal conversations that bring meaning to what we do as managers.

I am curious about your thoughts.

“We have looked at two things, eliminating and simplifying,” I started. “To understand what you can eliminate and what you can simplify, you have to ask what is necessary?”

Denise nodded.

“What do we have to look at to decide what is necessary?” I continued.

Denise looked down at the picture of circles of her system. “The goal,” she replied. “Only when I understand the quantity of production, and the quality standard, can I determine what is necessary.”

“It’s a good start,” I nodded. “But there are two more things about the goal that you have to think about.” -TF
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Working Leadership Online is open for registration. Orientation starts next Monday.

Lee Thayer kicked us off yesterday, mulling over what people miss when they misunderstand the meaning behind a job. Over the next few days, we will talk about jobs and work. What is work? Why people work?
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“Why do people work?” I asked.

Vicki was tentative in her response, looking for the trick in the question. “They work because they need the money,” she finally replied.

“That’s a start. Why do people work?” I repeated.

“They have to support their families.”

“Okay.” Vicki could see I added her response to my mental list. “Why do people work?”
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If you are interested in playing, you can post a comment. If you are interested in reading the comments, you have to visit the site. www.managementblog.org.

Alicia assembled the team. I was invited to sit in and ask a few questions. Her two project leaders had been squabbling about the pace of the project, but it appeared to be more of a power struggle than a project issue.

I had Alicia announce the purpose of the meeting in an email invitation so everyone knew the subject area. No one would be blindsided walking into the meeting.

Agenda. Leadership Issues related to the Phoenix Project. The purpose of this meeting is to resolve the project delays caused by the project leadership.

“I hope this doesn’t open a bag of worms,” Alicia confided before we entered the room.

“If it does, then the bag needed to be opened,” I replied. –TF

Open Registration is now available for Working Leadership Online. Orientation begins August 9, Session One begins August 16.
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“I don’t get it,” Alicia explained. “We just had a meeting on how to rescue this stalled project. No one came up with any ideas. For an hour. It was like waiting to go see the dentist.”

“So, your team didn’t isolate the problem,” I prompted.

“Oh yeah, they did, just not in the meeting. We wasted an entire hour. Only when the meeting was over, I find out, at the water cooler, the project is stalemated because the two project leaders are angry at each other.”

“Someone told you at the water cooler?” I asked.

“Oh, no, I only found out by accident. There were two people whispering a little too loud. I put two and two together.”

So, why didn’t this come up at the meeting?”

“I don’t know,” Alicia wondered out loud. “It’s like it was a secret. A secret everyone was too scared to talk about.”

“What do you mean, cripple my team?” Lydia protested. “I mean, I agree that I shouldn’t force my decision on the group. I need to get buy-in. But cripple my team?”

“No, in this case, buy-in is just a cover-up. This is a team decision with team responsibility and consequences for the team no matter which way they choose. As the leader, if you make this decision for the team, they are no longer responsible and the consequences are no longer theirs. Even with buy-in, when the team suffers the consequences from your decision, you will be to blame. They will take you to the mat.”

Lydia was silent.

“And your team will gain more experience and momentum in avoiding responsibility than stepping up to the plate. As the leader, you will cripple your team.” -TF

Pre-registration for our online program Working Leadership Online will close this Friday, July 25. Pre-registration earns you a $50 coupon. We anticipate the program to be underway August 9.
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“I know we are missing a couple of Managers,” admitted Derrick. We intentionally allowed these positions to be open. We thought we could get by.”

“And now you are paying the price,” I responded.

“I guess we thought our systems were solid,” Derrick hopefully floated.

“Perhaps they were, but things change. Your systems have to be constantly monitored, constantly tweaked. Not only did you lose the predictability of your momentum, but it cost you backtracking to re-locate the source of the problem. That’s why you felt, at times, that you were playing Whack-a-mole.”

“So, what’s the next step?” asked Derrick.

“Two-fold. You have to keep a handle on the Whack-a-mole and you also need to find a new manager.” -TF
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For those interested in our Online program, here is our expected schedule.

July 25 Pre-registration closes ($50 coupon)
July 28 Standard Registration
August 9 Kickoff and Orientation

“So, life is NOT a river,” Ellen repeated.

“No,” I replied. “And I cannot teach you the things you need to know to become a better manager. You cannot read a book on management and suddenly be a better manager.”

Ellen looked disappointed.

“If you can’t teach me, then who?”

“Ellen, it is your journey. You are responsible for the preparation. You are responsible for taking the steps. You are responsible for learning along the way. What you choose to read and who you choose to listen to are important, but you are responsible for the learning.” -TF